Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Last week, the Southern Regional and Louisiana Offices of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) sent a delegation of over 140 people to Washington DC to present to Congress the findings of a two-year report on the plight of displaced residents from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The report, What It Takes to Rebuild a Village after a Disaster: Stories from Internally Displaced Children and Families of Hurricane Katrina and Their Lessons for Our Nation, is the result of a two-year effort sponsored by the CDF’s Southern Regional and Louisiana Offices and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The initiative produced the Katrina Citizens Leadership Corps (KCLC), a group of over 250 displaced residents whose stories are told in the report.

The report explicitly challenges the current model for disaster recovery, governed by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act (commonly known as the Stafford Act) which denies an individual harmed by a natural disaster the legal right to claim assistance or compensation for loss. As an alternative, the report stresses the solutions under international law – specifically the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement - which provide for much fuller protection.

Louisiana Justice Institute director Tracie Washington is a co-writer of the report, and accompanied the delegation, made up of KCLC members, public officials and others, to Washington, DC from September 22nd to the 24th. In discussing the report and the issues it raises, Washington said, “Why have so many of our students not returned to our schools? Why is our healthcare situation in a state of chaos? Why are renters suffering from oppressively high rents, easily double the pre-Katrina rates?”

The problem, according to Washington and others, is the lack of rights accorded under US law. “An elected officials’ promise means absolutely nothing unless a ‘right’ is bestowed along with it,” says Washington. “And the people of the Gulf Coast who suffered as a result of Katrina had no right to recovery.”

Among those traveling to Washington were Mary Joseph, Director of CDF’s Louisiana Offices; Dr. Millie Charles, former Dean of Social Work at Southern University in New Orleans; Lourdes Moran, with the Orleans Parish School Board; and Oleta Fitzgerald, Director of CDF’s Southern Regional Office. Several elected officials from Baton Rouge made the trip, as well as Mayor Harold Rideau of Baker, Louisiana. Baker was the home of the largest trailer park for Katrina evacuees in the US, an area that was known as Renaissance Village.

The delegation’s agenda included attendance at the Congressional Black Caucus’ opening session on Capitol Hill, Wednesday morning, September 23rd. Speakers included CBC Foundation President, Dr. Elsie Scott; CBC Foundation Chair, Congressman Kendrick Meek; Congresswoman Barbara Lee; and Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives. The opening session was followed by a series of panel discussions featuring, among others, Marian Wright Edelman, National Director of the Children’s Defense Fund; PolicyLink’s Angela Glover; and National Urban League President, Marc Morial. The day closed with a KCLC reception that evening at the National Council of Negro Women.

On Thursday morning, September 24th, KCLC members presented the report and their recommendations at a Congressional Briefing. Later that afternoon, Mary Joseph and other delegation members met with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

This Wednesday, more than a hundred New Orleanians (as well as two brass bands and several other performers) demonstrated outside the Hale Boggs Federal Building to send the message to US Senator Mary Landrieu that her constituents support the public option in the health care debate.

Tamara Jackson, the president of the New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force – the alliance that represents 25 of the city’s 32 clubs - was one of the main organizers of the rally.

“I’m out today because we need a public option,” said Jackson. “A lot of the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Members - as well as many musicians we work with - have been suffering because they don’t have access to care.”

The Task Force previously led the successful fight against excessive fees the police department attempted to levy on secondlines, which threatened the very existence of the secondline tradition. They also have spent the past four years fighting to help their members return home, while also continuing to preserve the city’s traditions. “While we rebuild our lives, we also contribute to the culture that is so historic here in this city,” she says.

But this is the first time that the alliance has taken on a political issue not directly tied to the city’s culture. Jackson explained that all of their members believed in the importance of this fight.

“We talked about it recently with our members,” she said. “With people falling sick, we felt we needed to be proactive and do something. We decided its essential that the task force take on another role and advocate for the public option.”

Although this kind of direct political action may be new for the organization, it fits well with their history. “The Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs started as benevolent societies,” Jackson explained. “They helped establish burials for the members that were fallen, or helping someone who had fallen sick. And now we are faced with an insurance crisis, and a health care crisis. We are disenfranchised. We are everyday working people that are in need.”

Jackson, who worked at the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, now works at the Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville. She explained that the loss of NOAH is another aspect of the city’s health care crisis. “Louisiana is suffering, we don’t have many health care options,” she said. “There’s no hospital in New Orleans East. You just have a few hospitals in the city that are open and providing services, and even those services are limited. You no longer have a charity hospital. Mental health patients, with the recent closure of the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, will not have a place to go.”

Jackson hopes that Wednesday’s rally will send a message to our political representatives. “I’m really disappointed in Senator Landrieu,” explains Jackson. “When she ran for re-election she supported Obama’s plan. She used President Obama to get elected, and now she opposes it.”

Jackson stressed that her organization intends to stay in this fight. “This is a real serious issue,” she said. “A lot of people, especially African-Americans, don’t have access to care. We need to come together as a community. I have health insurance, but I’m still advocating for those that don’t.”

Monday, September 21, 2009

This Wednesday, a wide coalition of organizations has organized a rally to support the public option in health care reform. The rally will be held outside Senator Mary Landrieu's office - Landrieu is among the key Democratic votes who have been standing with Republicans in blocking meaningful health care reform.

One of the key organizations behind this rally is the New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force, the coalition that represents virtually every S&P Club in the city. While these clubs are known for their central role in our city's culture through sponsoring secondlines most weekends, they deserve recognition for their social justice role as well.

Historically, S&P Clubs were founded as benevolent societies, offering insurance to their members and engaging in other forms of community support. This role continues to be an important aspect of most clubs - for example, several clubs hold benefits in the fall to buy school supplies for kids. Post-Katrina, the Task Force has played an even larger role in advocating for culture - for example, by fighting against city rules that would have nearly eliminated most secondlines - and also greater community needs, such as supporting the recent demonstration to save Charity Hospital.

Wednesday's rally will begin at 6:00pm at the Federal building at 500 Poydras St. At least two brass bands will perform, and speakers will include Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, the President of the New Orleans Medical Association and founding steering committee member of the Louisiana Consumer Healthcare Coalition; Robert “Tiger” Hammond, President of Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO; K Brad Ott, Co-chair, Committee to Reopen Charity Hospital; and Tamara Jackson, President of the New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force.

For more info on the rally, contact Michelle at 214-684-1426, or michellelongino@yahoo.com, or Gilda, at gildawreed@yahoo.com.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

This morning the Louisiana Justice Institute, as a part of our Project Transparency campaign, received a copy of the Transition Report of the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The Inspector General's office has been in the news a lot this week, with the hiring of Inspector General Edouard Quatrevaux, the dismissal of former Interim Inspector General Leonard Odom, and the resignation of former Police Monitor Neely Moody. Today's Picayune mentions the report, which has been a central part of the current controversy.

According to the latest Times Picayune story about the office, "The man running the office in Quatrevaux's absence, David Westerling, said he has tried unsuccessfully to get copies of the report, and the two auditors who produced it have taken leave for the rest of the week and locked the rest of the staff out of their files."

We would especially like to draw your attention to page five of the report, which discusses the hiring of the executive director of the Ethics Review Board.

According to the report, when Inspector General Cerasoli hired the executive director of the Ethics Review Board, "she was an undergraduate student from a college in Quincy, Massachusetts, where IG Cerasoli had been her teacher. She was a marketing major whose only previous work experience included part-time employment earning no more than $10 per hour while attending college. Upon graduation, she was hired as the executive director for the ERB with an annual salary and benefits of $90,000."

The new inspector general, Edouard Quatrevaux, dismissed the report as "internal strife," while Cerasoli told the Picayune that Odom's report was "sad, really sad" and was "just an attempt to undermine the credibility of the office."

Since these agencies were authorized by the voters in a City Charter referendum in 1996, and established in 2007, the people of New Orleans have placed great faith in the Office of Inspector General and the Ethics Review Board. We expect and demand that both of these powerful public agencies set the highest standards for transparency and accountability. . . and accept nothing less.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of angry protesters gathered in Washington DC in a demonstration that was largely organized by Fox News and right wing radio. They were not protesting the lack of health care for tens of millions of Americans, or the out-of-control criminal justice system, or under-funded schools, or the continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Waving confederate flags and carrying signs with racist slogans, they were expressing their fear at the changes happening in this country.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to rebuke Republican Congressman Joe Wilson for shouting “You Lie,” at President Obama. The vote to rebuke fell largely along party lines. During 8 years of Bush administration innovations in the art of lying, including the multi-trillion dollar lies that brought us to war with Iraq, no member of Congress ever shouted at the President during a speech. And, unlike much of what has been said by Bush and many presidents before him, the statement that inspired Wilson’s outburst, about healthcare for immigrants, was unquestionably true.

Wilson, who in 2003 called it a “smear” to mention that Senator Strom Thurmond had a mixed-race daughter, denies that race anything to do with his remark. But former President Jimmy Carter disagrees. To Carter, it’s clear that Wilson's outburst was rooted in fears of a black president. "I think it's based on racism," Carter said. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

Meanwhile, here in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish city government continues to look for ways to discriminate. According to today’s Picayune, “The Parish Council Tuesday night called for a November special election that would give voters the chance to permanently ban most future apartment developments.”

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan once again found St. Bernard's government in contempt of court. Further, as the Picayune noted, "She gave the parish until 5 p.m. Monday to produce the respective paperwork. If parish officials delay without cause, St. Bernard faces fines of $5,000 the first day and $10,000 every day thereafter." A Sunday column by Jarvis Deberry asks, "At what point will residents decide that it's just too damned expensive to be racist?"

This week, two open letters were released that further heightens the pressure on the parish. Both were signed by a broad spectrum of organizations, from national human rights groups like National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, US Human Rights Network, and Advancement Project; to regional organizations like Moving Forward Gulf Coast and Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children; to an ever-increasing range of local groups, such as the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center and Survivors Village; as well as individuals like historian Douglas Brinkley and blogger Karen Gadbois.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Last week, the Louisiana Justice Institute won our battle in the Louisiana State Supreme Court, against New Orleans City Council efforts to silence us and have LJI director Tracie Washington disbarred.

Briefly, here is the full story: In October 2008, LJI launched Project Transparency. We did this because access to information, especially about our government and its activities, is part of our common heritage as US citizens, and it is a human right. Members of the public demand access to unclassified documents their tax dollars have been used to produce.

In December 2008, LJI made a request for the emails of several city council members, their staff, and members of the Nagin administration. Our intent? To support research and provide information to the public. And our research proved what we suspected all along: roving quorums of councilmembers, divided along racial lines. The reason New Orleans local government has become ineffective and growth stymied is due in no small measure to the racial tension exhibited amongst City Council members, petty bickerings, and tribalism one would expect in viewing Survivor – not local government.

But our councilmembers and their attorneys fought Louisiana Justice Institute at every step of the way – all the way to the State Supreme Court - to keep you from having full access to these records. Their battle against LJI cost us time and resources.

Last week, the Louisiana State Supreme Court agreed with the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board's (LADB) Hearing Committee Report and Recommendations, which found absolutely no grounds to the charges against Tracie and LJI. In fact, one LADB Hearing Committee member wrote, in this case “New Orleans City Government is using its influence to attempt to crush an opponent with ethical charges when the real battle is over its own incompetence and ineptitude. With scant evidence of any harm caused by the public release of three emails that bear no resemblance to privileged documents and with no evidence of future harm posed by Tracie Washington, the LADB, by its prosecution of this matter, has become a weapon of the city government and an instrument of harm to the public.”

The New Orleans City Council, in its petition to the Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel, submitted misleading statements and outright lies to the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana, all in an effort to ‘punish’ Tracie and Louisiana Justice Institute for daring to challenge these government officials’ obsession with secrecy, closed government, and good ol’ boy politics of the 50’s and 60’s.

When LJI opened its doors on April 1, 2007, we took on the responsibility of serving as the first statewide civil rights legal advocacy law firm with a mission to foster and support social justice campaigns for poor communities and communities of color throughout the state. This work has been both challenging and exhilarating. We work with some of the most exceptional people and partners in both urban and rural communities, where the promise of our nation for true social justice reform has been ignored. Our enthusiasm for these campaigns is bolstered daily by the many calls for assistance and gratitude for our intervention, as individuals and, increasingly, community leaders understand it is only when we raise the standard of living for our most marginalized residents that this state will prosper.

We have no intention of giving up. In fact, the opposition and attacks we have faced only mean that we will fight harder.

We need your generous support now more than ever as we work to ensure our citizenry is not only fully informed, but motivated and mobilized to participate in the rebuilding and renewal of this great city. Your donation will make a real difference in sustaining and expanding Project Transparency and our other work areas, and in reinforcing the message that government belongs to the people – ALL THE PEOPLE – and we will demand accountability from those we elect.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Sign-On Letter for Local and National Relief Organizations and Volunteer Groups(To add your name to the list of signers, please email StBernardParishLetter@gmail.com)

In September of 2006, the Parish Council in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana enacted a law that would have prohibited home-owners from renting homes to anyone other than a “blood relative.” Since the Parish is overwhelmingly white and had few Jewish citizens, the law effectively made it a crime to rent to African Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Latinos, Jews, and other populations who did not live in the parish in large numbers pre-Katrina.

Many of us engaged in rebuilding and relief work were deeply troubled by the “blood-relative” law and similar policies that discouraged the return of African Americans and the poor in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast. Regrettably, many relief and volunteer organizations chose not to respond to the “blood-relative” law, remaining silent on this issue.

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that St. Bernard Parish officials interpreted silence as consent, which has now emboldened them to pursue other means to defy the Fair Housing Act. The Parish and its leaders are openly disobeying a federal court order and considering a charter change that would require public referendum on any proposal to construct affordable multi-family housing. Their actions have been repeatedly ruled illegal in federal court because they are discriminatory in intent and impact

It is time that we take a stand against discrimination wherever it occurs, and make clear what the moral imperatives are for all organizations that seek to rebuild the Gulf Coast as a fair and just society.

As local and national relief organizations and volunteer groups, we recognize we have a moral obligation to work towards a just rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, and we pledge to speak out against injustice where we see it. This includes discriminatory housing policies, such as those pursued by elected officials in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

Signed,

(To add your name to the list of signers, please email StBernardParishLetter@gmail.com)

We are a coalition of community organizations from the Greater New Orleans area, writing to express our grave concern and disappointment over recent actions taken by St. Bernard Parish government to block equitable housing access in the Greater New Orleans area.

The Parish was sued by Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) in 2006 for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, in enacting several housing ordinances with the intent and effect of discriminating against minorities. At that time, GNOFHAC fought to enjoin the Parish from enacting a so-called “blood relative ordinance, that is, the housing ordinance passed on September 19, 2006 that stated “No person…shall rent, lease, loan, or otherwise allow occupancy or use of any single-family residence located in an R-1 zone by any person or group of persons, other than a family member(s) related by blood within the first, second, or third direct ascending or descending generation(s) without first obtaining a Permissive Use Permit from the S. Bernard Parish Council.”

On February 27, 2008, you agreed the Parish would no longer (a) refuse to rent a dwelling unit, or otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling unit, to any person because of race or national origin; (b) deny minority citizens the same rights as are enjoyed by white citizens to make and enforce contracts; (c) deny minority citizens the same rights as are enjoyed by white citizens to lease, hold and otherwise enjoy real property; (d) deny any person equal protection of the law by discriminating on the basis of race and national origin in the leasing of real property; or (e) retaliate against Plaintiffs or any other person who alleges that Defendants have violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.

In spite of this agreement, in September 2008 the Parish violated its terms by enacting an ordinance that placed a moratorium on the construction of all multi-family housing (i.e., buildings with more than 5 units) for a period of twelve months or until the Parish Council enacted certain zoning updates. The effect of this ordinance was that it triggered cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, including a special election for which that developer must bear the costs. This ordinance would have had a detrimental impact on housing development, and stymie movement of certain people who want to reside in St. Bernard Parish. People of color, who are more likely to depend on multi-family housing post-Katrina, would have been especially harmed if this moratorium had been allowed to stand.

This latest initiative follows a pattern and practice in St. Bernard Parish to prevent development of low income housing at a time when our community could not be more desperate for safe and affordable units.

St. Bernard Parish’s post-Katrina efforts to rebuild a racially segregated Parish by passing and implementing rules to prevent non-White homeowners from moving to and living in the Parish have become an international symbol of injustice in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. The 2006 “blood-relative” ordinance would have prohibited single family homeowners from renting to anyone other than blood relatives, effectively excluding many ethnic groups from residing in St. Bernard Parish; including African Americans, Jewish Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Latinos, and other populations who did not live in the parish in large numbers pre-Katrina.

Fortunately, U.S. District Court Judge Helen G. Berrigan ruled this 2006 ‘blood-relative’ ordinance is illegal based on its discriminatory intent and impact. The Times Picayune editorial board wrote, “This ruling strips off the camouflage and reveals St. Bernard's actions for what they really are: an effort to keep lower-income people and African-Americans from moving into the mostly white parish.”

Since the date of the district court’s first order, Judge Berrigan has held the Parish in contempt three times for its failures to comply with the agreed upon and court-approved Consent Decree. But the St. Bernard Parish government, with apparent support from Parish residents and associations, continues to pass laws in support of segregated housing. Related ordinances restricting the development of rental housing in St. Bernard Parish have also been struck down as discriminatory, yet the Parish forges on in this regressive homage to racial and ethnic isolation.

These illegal ordinances and their progeny hurt all Greater New Orleans area residents by erecting barricades that obstruct a just rebuilding, instead of clearing the road for an equitable right to return home.

We will not be silent as our neighbor community actively discriminates. These policies create a climate of discrimination and magnify racial and ethnic tensions in our community, while also exacerbating our local housing crisis. As concerned community members, we call on St. Bernard Parish government to immediately end these discriminatory practices, and instead to join with us in standing for a just rebuilding for all Gulf Coast residents. By standing together, all of our communities benefit.

We are a coalition of community organizations from the Greater New Orleans area, writing to express our grave concern and disappointment over recent actions taken by St. Bernard Parish government to block equitable housing access in the Greater New Orleans area.

The Parish was sued by Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) in 2006 for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, in enacting several housing ordinances with the intent and effect of discriminating against minorities. At that time, GNOFHAC fought to enjoin the Parish from enacting a so-called “blood relative ordinance, that is, the housing ordinance passed on September 19, 2006 that stated “No person…shall rent, lease, loan, or otherwise allow occupancy or use of any single-family residence located in an R-1 zone by any person or group of persons, other than a family member(s) related by blood within the first, second, or third direct ascending or descending generation(s) without first obtaining a Permissive Use Permit from the S. Bernard Parish Council.”

On February 27, 2008, you agreed the Parish would no longer (a) refuse to rent a dwelling unit, or otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling unit, to any person because of race or national origin; (b) deny minority citizens the same rights as are enjoyed by white citizens to make and enforce contracts; (c) deny minority citizens the same rights as are enjoyed by white citizens to lease, hold and otherwise enjoy real property; (d) deny any person equal protection of the law by discriminating on the basis of race and national origin in the leasing of real property; or (e) retaliate against Plaintiffs or any other person who alleges that Defendants have violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.

In spite of this agreement, in September 2008 the Parish violated its terms by enacting an ordinance that placed a moratorium on the construction of all multi-family housing (i.e., buildings with more than 5 units) for a period of twelve months or until the Parish Council enacted certain zoning updates. The effect of this ordinance was that it triggered cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, including a special election for which that developer must bear the costs. This ordinance would have had a detrimental impact on housing development, and stymie movement of certain people who want to reside in St. Bernard Parish. People of color, who are more likely to depend on multi-family housing post-Katrina, would have been especially harmed if this moratorium had been allowed to stand.

This latest initiative follows a pattern and practice in St. Bernard Parish to prevent development of low income housing at a time when our community could not be more desperate for safe and affordable units.

St. Bernard Parish’s post-Katrina efforts to rebuild a racially segregated Parish by passing and implementing rules to prevent non-White homeowners from moving to and living in the Parish have become an international symbol of injustice in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. The 2006 “blood-relative” ordinance would have prohibited single family homeowners from renting to anyone other than blood relatives, effectively excluding many ethnic groups from residing in St. Bernard Parish; including African Americans, Jewish Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Latinos, and other populations who did not live in the parish in large numbers pre-Katrina.

Fortunately, U.S. District Court Judge Helen G. Berrigan ruled this 2006 ‘blood-relative’ ordinance is illegal based on its discriminatory intent and impact. The Times Picayune editorial board wrote, “This ruling strips off the camouflage and reveals St. Bernard's actions for what they really are: an effort to keep lower-income people and African-Americans from moving into the mostly white parish.”

Since the date of the district court’s first order, Judge Berrigan has held the Parish in contempt three times for its failures to comply with the agreed upon and court-approved Consent Decree. But the St. Bernard Parish government, with apparent support from Parish residents and associations, continues to pass laws in support of segregated housing. Related ordinances restricting the development of rental housing in St. Bernard Parish have also been struck down as discriminatory, yet the Parish forges on in this regressive homage to racial and ethnic isolation.

These illegal ordinances and their progeny hurt all Greater New Orleans area residents by erecting barricades that obstruct a just rebuilding, instead of clearing the road for an equitable right to return home.

We will not be silent as our neighbor community actively discriminates. These policies create a climate of discrimination and magnify racial and ethnic tensions in our community, while also exacerbating our local housing crisis. As concerned community members, we call on St. Bernard Parish government to immediately end these discriminatory practices, and instead to join with us in standing for a just rebuilding for all Gulf Coast residents. By standing together, all of our communities benefit.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Sunday Times-Picayune, in a front page story, reports that Federal agents have been investigating the New Orleans Police Department, issuing subpoenas, gathering grand jury testimony, and even “a surprise search warrant executed on the New Orleans Police Department homicide office.” The main targets of the investigation seems to be the killings in Algiers in the days after the storm, as well as those on the Danziger Bridge, but the probe goes further, also exploring “the police shooting of 22-year-old Adolph Grimes in the 6th Ward on New Year's Day” among other incidents. Hopefully, they will also explore the racial attacks led by NOPD officers at Midcity’s Beach Corner Bar in 2008.

According to the Picayune article, “Observers and authorities say the investigations, and the charges they are likely to result in, could shake the very foundation of the New Orleans Police Department in ways that haven't been seen since the Len Davis murder-for-hire case in the mid-1990s.”

Apparently, the NOPD have not been cooperative. In one incident mentioned in the article, “the 2nd District commander argued with and nearly barred agents earlier this summer from entering his station house.”

It’s good to see the Picayune give this story serious coverage. Perhaps they are attempting to atone for ignoring the Algiers story for over three years, until journalist AC Thompson wrote about it for ProPublica.com and the Nation Magazine.

Federal agents apparently first heard about the Algiers killings from the Nation article. It’s too bad that both the Feds and the Picayune didn’t pay attention to the many local journalists, activists, and others bringing the story up in the years before, including Malik Rahim on Democracy Now in 2005, the testimony at the 2007 Katrina Tribunal, sponsored by People’s Hurricane Relief Fund, reporting by blogger Darwin Bond-Graham on New Orleans Indymedia (also in 2007), and a documentary filmed by a European crew in 2005 called Welcome to New Orleans, which featured interviews with some of the white vigilantes involved in the killings.

In the days after the storm, virtually the entire staff of New Orleans’ public school system was fired. Not long after, the school board voted to officially cease recognition of their union – one of the largest and strongest in the city. In the months and years since, Black and Latino workers in the reconstruction of the city have been pitted against each other by some employers in a “race to the bottom,” where all working people lose.

Louisiana is one of 22 so-called “Right to Work” states. These state laws prohibit workplaces where all employees are part of a union. Studies have found that states with these laws – which effectively limit the power of workers to advocate for better pay and benefits – have salaries almost 15% less than states without these anti-union prohibitions.

Nationwide, about 12% of workers are in unions. In Louisiana, only 4.6% of workers had union representation in 2008, one of the lowest rates in the US. Nationwide, there has been a decline in union membership for almost three decades – a decline that has also caused a drop in average salaries for workers, and in health coverage. Workers with unions are nearly 50% more likely to have health insurance covered by their employer.

Friday, September 4, 2009

The touring production of the Broadway show The Color Purple, produced by Oprah Winfrey, has announced that they will be raising money for the St. Bernard Project. Of all the charities in the Gulf Coast to fundraise for, this seems to be an odd choice for the play, which is based on the legendary book by Alice Walker about southern Black women finding their strength.

St Bernard Project works almost exclusively on rebuilding housing in St. Bernard Parish, despite discriminatory housing laws of the Parish that effectively keep Black families from living there. St. Bernard Project leadership have never spoken against these laws. By their actions, and silence, they have in fact supported the Parish’s discriminatory policies.

In the year after Katrina, St. Bernard Parish passed the notorious “blood relative ordinance,” which barred single-family homeowners from renting to anyone except blood relatives without the special permission of the Parish Council. Since whites own nearly 93% of St. Bernard Parish owner-occupied housing, in most circumstances only whites would be able to rent most single-family housing in the Parish. This ordinance was a clear violation of the Fair Housing Act.

In case anyone doubts the intent of the laws and policy of the parish, there has been extensive documentation of the intent. Last year, one of the only two members of the St Bernard parish council to vote against the ordinance told reporter Lizzy Ratner, "They don't want the blacks back… What they'd like to do now with Katrina is say, We'll wipe out all of them. They're not gonna say that out in the open, but how do you say? Actions speak louder than words. There's their action."

Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) has successfully challenged St. Bernard’s policy, but Parish officials have continued to search for new ways to try and subvert the law.In the latest legal development, on August 17, 2009, Judge Helen G. Berrigan granted GNOFHAC's and Provident Realty Advisors' second motion for contempt against St. Bernard Parish. Judge Berrigan writes that by "subverting the re-subdivision process" to prevent Provident Realty Advisors from moving forward on construction of four multi-family housing units, the actions of St. Bernard Parish are discriminatory against African Americans in both intent and effect.

Last night, Congressman Cao faced hard questioning from a room of New Orleanians, and most of the smaller-than-expected crowd of about 60 was loudly dissatisfied with his answers.

Cao’s office apparently was nervous about public expressions of opinion they couldn’t control. In advance of the event, they attempted to forbid local organizers from passing out information about the state of health care in Louisiana.

The evening was dominated by questions about medical insurance, as one person after another tried to pin down the Congressman to a stance on the White House’s health care reform bill. Cao would only repeat that he was for reform, but not necessarily this bill. Questioners asked if Cao was more responsive to donors and supporters such as Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions than he was to his constituents.

One position that Congressman Cao did commit to was a stance against federal funding for abortions. In response, a woman in the audience gave an impassioned declaration that, as a man, he should not try tell women what to do with their bodies – to wide support from the room. Other audience members responded that, regardless of anyone’s opinion on the issue, the White House bill would not overturn the already-existing Hyde Amendment, which already prohibits such funding. Cao disagreed.

Finally, in response to a question from Tracie Washington of Louisiana Justice Institute, Congressman Cao declared that he would not support a health care reform bill that did not specifically prohibit federal funding for abortion. Many in the room expressed frustration and anger at his stance. One speaker declared that Cao was standing against the bill, but they did not see him standing for anything, especially Louisiana.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao, who dodged last week’s Community Conversation on Health Care, has announced a public health care forum for tomorrow night. Congressman Cao apparently decided last week’s conversation – which filled a church in Gentilly - was not important enough for him to attend, but was still a good enough idea for him to present something very similar.

Tomorrow night’s forum, like last week’s event, features a panel of health care experts, including: Nancy Cassagne, CEO of West Jefferson Medical Center; Mary Joseph, Director of the Katrina Resource and Referral Project at the Children’s Defense Fund; and Judge Calvin Johnson. The panel will take questions from forum attendees, and be moderated by WBOK’s Gerod Stevens.

Anyone concerned about health care in New Orleans, and what our elected representatives are doing about it, should be there, and be prepared to ask Congressman Cao the hard questions he has been dodging. If anyone knows the need for health care reform, its residents of Louisiana; our state is number 50 in most measures of health care quality and access.

Local activist Eli Ackerman has listed some questions for Cao on his blog. As Ackerman says, “Congressman Cao has developed the habit of not taking positions on issues (think stimulus) before he votes the reactionary position with his Party's leaders. It is important that meeting attendees make a real effort to force Mr. Cao to explain what he believes, how he plans to vote, and why.”

Cao’s forum will be Thursday, September 3, at 6:00 p.m, at H.C. Schaumburg Elementary School, 9501 Grant Street – in New Orleans East. For some background, check out the Louisiana Justice Institute’s "Healthcare: Myths vs. Facts" Powerpoint and factsheet, here.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Good morning. Thank you, Yolanda Adams, for that warm introduction. More so, thank you Yolanda for your steadfast leadership as the Atlanta coordinator for the Katrina Citizens Leadership Corps.

I was introduced to KCLC only last year, when Mary Joseph and Oleta Fitzgerald – two of our modern-day Deep South Social Justice Giants – invited me to one of their convenings in New Orleans. How many of you have ever attended a Children’s Defense Fund convening? Powerful, aren’t they?

If Rush Limbaugh attended one of these meetings at Haley Farm, he’d convert. Become an Obamaholic. Might even begin preaching the healthcare ‘single-payer’ option.

Y’all know a Haley Farm meeting is life changing.

Anyway, I was overwhelmed by the camaraderie of these mostly New Orleans natives, and marveled in knowing my neighbors and friends – no matter how far displaced from home – still retained the essence of this region’s spirit: a dogged determination to survive despite any barriers placed in our paths.

Today, I want to talk about needing more than survival. Why more than survival? Well because we were promised more than survival.

Travel back with me to September 15, 2005. President Bush stood that evening in the middle of Jackson Square, in front of St. Louis Cathedral.

Do you remember that night and that speech?

And Mr. Bush made several promises to the people of the Gulf Coast. I know you all remember that speech. Let me read to you his third promise:

“Our third commitment is this: When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm. Within the Gulf region are some of the most beautiful and historic places in America. As all of us saw on television, there is also some deep, persistent poverty in this region as well. That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action.”

And President Bush then continued with that for me was a life-altering pledge –

“So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday and let us rise above the legacy of inequality. When the streets are rebuilt, there should be many new businesses, including minority-owned businesses, along those streets. When houses are rebuilt, more families should own, not rent, those houses. When the regional economy revives, local people should be prepared for the jobs being created. Americans want the Gulf Coast not just to survive, but to thrive; not just to cope, but to overcome. We want evacuees to come home, for the best of reasons – because they have a real chance at a better life in a place they love.”

It is now four years later, and the No. 1 question from everyone – Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, my driver to the hotel last night – that No. 1 question is “How’s New Orleans doing?”

I’ve been a bit irreverent in my response lately. “New Orleans,” I say “is like a well coiffed, well manicured, well dressed woman who doesn’t take care of herself.”

Oh, her hair is fierce, like the Superdome one year after the storm. The bent metal was laid bone-straight. The dome was slick and shinny, like newly sprayed as Afro-sheen.

And don’t talk about her nails. Perfect. No chips. No peels. Just drive down Canal Street. We have some of the most ‘horticulturally-correct” palm trees outside of Palm Springs. The sidewalks aren’t cracked.

Finally, let’s not forget the outfit. St. John Knit with Ferragamo matching pumps and bag, baby. Our French Quarter homes and Garden District mansions never looked better.

But this well coiffed well manicured well dressed woman, smokes like a chimney and drinks like a sailor. Unhealthy. No way to live.

And so closes the parallel with New Orleans. On the outside, in some places, we look good. Real good. But the statistics show degenerating health:

0. Number of renters in Louisiana who have received financial assistance from the $10 billion federal post-Katrina rebuilding program Road Home Community Development Block Grant – compared to 116,708 homeowners.

0. Number of hospitals in New Orleans providing in-patient mental healthcare as of September 2009 despite post-Katrina increases in suicides and mental health problems.

11.9. Percent reduction in employment in the professional and business services in Louisiana.

18. Percent reduction in employment in the education and health services industry in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina

35. Percent of child care facilities re-opened in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

50. Ranking of Louisiana among states for overall healthcare.

30,396. Number of children who have not returned to public school in New Orleans since Katrina.

And these figures mimic those in Gulf Coast Mississippi and Alabama communities ravaged by Katrina. So sure we look good, but we are not a healthy region, a long way from the beloved communities promised by President Bush.

It is why those promises have not been met that is the focus of – WHAT IT TAKES TO REBUILD A VILLAGE AFTER A DISASTER, the title of the KCLC report. Why have so many of our students not returned to our schools? Why is our healthcare situation in a state of chaos? Why are renters suffering from oppressively high rents, easily double the pre-Katrina rates?

Why? Because ladies and gentlemen, an elected officials’ promise means absolutely nothing unless a ‘right’ is bestowed along with it; and the people of the Gulf Coast who suffered as a result of Katrina had no right to recovery.

I’m going to pause for a moment, because I want you to hear my words again. The people who suffered from the most impressive natural and man-made disaster to befall the United States have no right to recovery.

Recover from disaster is governed by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Assistance Act, a federal law implemented by FEMA. The Stafford Act places almost all disaster response, at the discretion of the President of the United States, and explicitly denies an individual harmed by a natural disaster the legal right to claim assistance or compensation for loss. Under the Stafford Act, people affected by natural disasters are subjected to widely different governmental responses as chosen by presidents and negotiated on agreements or waivers.

A president can break a promise – intentionally or by benign neglect. I state governor can fail to obtain a waiver, due to ignorance or malevolence.

But a right to recovery is not dependent upon the shim of one man, or the competence of another. This is a right to which all internally displaced people would be entitled pursuant to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. These principles establish the duties of national governments and the rights of displaced people for the purpose of ending displacement and ensuring the recovery of people and communities.

The duties of national governments, range from preventing or at least mitigating the conditions that can cause displacement, prohibiting any form of ethnic cleansing that alters the racial, ethnic, or religious composition of an area where displacement occurs, and providing specific assistance to displaced persons that includes, but is not limited to housing, education, and healthcare.

The rights of individuals include, but are not limited to, voluntarily choosing to return home, integrate in the area where evacuated, or resettle elsewhere in the country, as well as a right to humanitarian assistance, such as housing, food, healthcare, education, and other social services for the duration of their displacement.

It is a right to more than just survival.

The subtitle of the KCLC Report “Stories from Internally Displaced Children and Families of Hurricane Katrina and their Lessons for Our Nation” foretells what you will hear today. You will hear the story of Maude Perryman, a 65 year old grandmother who asked “Where do I go from here?” after being relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, where she is raising four grandchildren without any assistance. It’s the story of Zeneta Jones who finally settled in Snellville, Georgia, having moved several times with her husband and 4 year old son, while still struggling each month to pay for food, education, and healthcare. And it’s the stories of David Graham, and Bandaka and Lyle Soule, and Shirly Scieneaux, and Cora Murray.

These are the stories of the Katrina diaspora. Their poignant struggles with employment, cultural adjustment, healthcare, school systems, childcare and housing are struggles that cannot go unnoticed as we try to rebuild houses and communities, which cannot be rebuilt without them.

I leave you with the words of President Bush, also delivered on September 15, 2005. “This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We’re going to review every action and make necessary changes so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature or act of evil men that could threaten our people.”

So, not from Mr. Bush, but form our Katrina Citizens Leadership Corps, I deliver to you the Lessons for our Nation. By exceeding the greatness of his words with their own resurrection and resolve, we are Called to Act, to reform our laws and ensure no other United States resident suffers in this way again.

The battle over the future of Charity Hospital has just taken an exciting new turn. On Monday, August 31, more than a thousand people marched through the streets of New Orleans, in one of the largest demonstrations the city has seen has seen in recent years. The massive crowd represented every neighborhood of the city, rich and poor, Black and white, small toddlers joining with elderly retirees. While coming from many different backgrounds and political perspectives, and wearing everything from shorts and t-shirts to brightly-colored suits and costumes, everyone spoke with one voice on this issue – Charity should be rebuilt within its former building.

Dancing through the streets with The Hot 8 and Rebirth Brass Bands, people from across the city held mass-printed signs saying Save Charity Hospital, as well as individually-written messages, like “I’m a Charity Hospital Baby” and “Save Lower Midcity.”

The giant secondline, which stretched several blocks, brought out many people who have never been to a protest, as well as membership from the more than 77 organizations that have endorsed the central demands of this movement: First, that an independent analysis of the two competing hospital plans be ordered by the governor. Second, that the City Planning Commission and City Council hold the legally required public hearings on the decision to cede Lower Mid-City for expropriation. Finally, the coalition wants the costs and benefits of each competing hospital proposal to be evaluated within the confines of the Goody Clancy Master Plan process.

This mass of people added to the evidence that public opinion is completely against LSU’s plan to relocate Charity Hospital to a new location, tearing down a large swath on Midcity in the process. A new opinion poll verifies what the demonstration implied. The survey, by pollster Ed Renwick, shows that, by a solid two-to-one ratio, New Orleans residents support rebuilding within the historic edifice. Like the march, the poll results crossed lines of race, gender, age and education.

Local politicians should take special note of the poll: more than 80% of respondents thought that public hearings held by city council would be a good idea, and - by a four-to-one margin - people said they would support Mayoral and City Council candidates who support rebuilding Charity in its original structure.

At the end of the march, people cheered as speakers promised further action. Among the many public figures present was Reverend Avery Alexander’s granddaughter and a doctor who’s father built the sculpture over Charity’s door. However, state and local politicians stayed away, further demonstrating official short-sightedness.

Musician Glen David Andrews, who spoke and performed at the end of the march, summed up many people’s thoughts when he said, “They want us to say goodbye to Charity Hospital. We ought to be saying goodbye to Bobby Jindal. We ought to be saying goodbye to Ray Nagin and the whole City Council.”